Prime minister Boris Johnson will continue in post after securing the backing of 59 per cent of Conservative MPs in Monday night’s confidence vote.
211 MPs backed the PM, while 148 – equivalent to 41 per cent of the parliamentary party – said that they had no-confidence in his leadership.
Despite such a significant internal rebellion, a beaming Johnson hailed the result as “decisive” and vowed to “put behind us all the stuff that the media goes on about” and get on with delivering on the people’s priorities.
The result means that the prime minister cannot face another Conservative leadership challenge for up to 12 months, but some have continued to call for him to step down on the basis that the scale of the Conservative revolt has significantly undermined his authority at the top of the party and government.
Indeed, when Johnson’s predecessor Theresa May faced a confidence vote of her own over her leadership back in 2018, she won the backing of a greater margin of 63 per cent of Tory MPs. Despite this, she resigned just six months later after her efforts to negotiate a Brexit deal with the EU were repeatedly rebuffed. Johnson later succeeded her in July 2019.
Johnson’s fellow cabinet ministers welcomed the result and showed their support for the PM in the aftermath of the vote, with health secretary Sajid Javid saying that it represented a “fresh mandate” from the Conservative party and that it was now time to “unite and focus on the country's challenges.”
Education secretary Nadhim Zahawi added that the time had come “draw a line under the issue” of Partygate while culture secretary Nadine Dorries insisted that it was “time to get back to the job of governing”.
However, concern remains among Johnson’s opponents from within the party, who feel the PM’s authority has been irreversibly damaged and Tory prospects in future polls could be harmed by his staying.
York Outer MP Julian Sturdy said that the result showed that Johnson “no longer enjoys the full-hearted confidence of the parliamentary party and should consider his position”, while North Thanet MP Sir Roger Gale said that he’d be surprised if Johnson was still in the Downing Street hot-seat by the autumn.
Johnson’s leadership faces another litmus test later in June in the form of by-elections in the Wakefield and Tiverton & Honiton constituencies, after the sitting Conservative MPs for both seats resigned.
Should those by-elections go against the Tories, it will do little to inspire confidence within the party ahead of the next general election, currently scheduled for 2024.
Following Monday’s confidence vote, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said that the PM was “totally unfit” for his position and was being propped up by a “divided” Conservative party.
Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey added that Johnson’s reputation had been left “in tatters” and his authority “totally shot” by the result, calling on Conservatives to “resign the whip” and sit independently to ensure Johnson is further drained of support.
Ian Blackford, the SNP leader in Westminster, declared that Johnson commanded the support of under a third of the House of Commons following the vote, and his tenure in Downing Street “should be over”.
Image taken from Wikimedia Commons
